


Fury Incarnate

by The_Winter_Writer



Series: Infinity War Fix-Its [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: (but it's FINE...it's the kind of character death you'd probably root for), (it's the barest of hints), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, BAMF Loki (Marvel), Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Happy Ending, Light Angst, Loki (Marvel)'s Revenge, M/M, Magic, Pre-Loki/Tony Stark, infinity war fix-it, the Loki we DESERVED and didn't get
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 02:44:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15698514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Winter_Writer/pseuds/The_Winter_Writer
Summary: Their plan was about to blow up in their faces. Tony could see trillions of lives being lost because of one emotional driven mistake and there was nothing he could say or do to stop it. They were going to need a miracle or divine intervention to make it out of this.





	Fury Incarnate

**Author's Note:**

> Rewatching IW it's impossible not to notice the difference of treatment of the three main magical users in IW. Two of them get incredible scenes displaying their magical prowess they've gained in a handful of years while the one with centuries of experience gets... _nothing_. 
> 
> So I figured the one with over a thousand years worth of magical knowledge and ability, the only one of the three who is an actual god and not a breakable mortal, should get the very deserved opportunity to shine.
> 
>  
> 
> FYI: I decided to put all of my IW fix-its into a series to keep them in one place. It was a very lovely suggestion and I could see the merit in making my therapeutic writing into a series.

Tony could sense it all going to Hell. They were going to _lose_ and they were so fucking close to getting the gauntlet off. Just a few more moments, just a few more, and they could save the universe. They could stop the massacre that Thanos wanted to bring down on their heads because he _knew_ if they didn’t stop it here the universe was going to lose catastrophically.

He tried, he fucking tried, to calm Quill down because he _knew_ where that whole conversation was leading and it wasn’t a good path. Tony recognized the name, Gamora, and remembered the insanity that was their first meeting. This wasn’t going to end well. It really, really wasn’t but he couldn’t give up. His helmet retracted as he tried to talk Quill down because he recognized the uncontrollable rage and need to avenge a loved one. He sympathized with Quill. Unfortunately it didn’t have a place here, in this moment, because they were so close and vengeance needed to wait.

“Okay, Quill, you gotta cool it right now. You understand? Don’t. Don’t. Don’t engage. We almost got this off!”

Tony knew he sounded desperate, pleading, but it wasn’t getting through. He wasn’t even sure Quill had heard a single word he’d said.

“Tell me she’s lying.”

_No no no no. We’ve got this far we can’t lose now! The universe is depending on this, on us._

“Asshole, tell me you didn’t do it!” he was screaming, right in Thanos’s face and their plan was going to go up in smoke. Grief-stricken rage was going to cost them _everything_ and dammit Tony wanted to scream, to rage, at the train wreck happening in front of him.

The rasping, half out of it voice was like the final nail in the coffin of his hopes. “ _I had to_.”

“No, you didn’t.” Quill’s voice was grief, pure grief and they were so close to getting the fucking gauntlet off. So fucking close that Tony could taste victory even as everything threatened to unravel it. _Why_ couldn’t she have waited to mention the connection between the Stone and Gamora until _after_ they had won? “No, you didn’t.”

_Please, god, no. We can’t lose. We can’t._

In his mind’s eye he could see them losing, he could see the devastating cost and his heart lodged in his throat in terror. They were all going to die, they were going to fail and everyone else would pay for it. Tony could see Peter yanking at the gauntlet, getting closer and closer to pulling it off, as Quill lost his shit and struck Thanos across the face.

“ _No_!”

There was a blinding flash of green and then the sound of _howling_ cut through Quill’s rage. A glance down revealed something his brain wasn’t quite computing even though he was staring right at it. In Peter’s hand rested the gauntlet. Tony stared at it in disbelief before looking at Thanos only to notice the bloody stub where the Titan’s arm used to be.

The scene wasn’t quite registering in his mind. It had happened so quickly, without expectation or explanation. Tony had been watching the universe’s hopes _die_ , killed by Quill’s grief and rage, only for _this_ to happen.

The ground had a growing puddle of blood. Over by Peter and the gauntlet still resting in his hold, the gauntlet apparently housing the rest of Thanos’s arm, blood dripped onto the ground to form a second puddle.

Tony swallowed and looked towards the new arrival.

_Did we win? Holy shit Loki is actually kind of scary as fuck. Why is that so fucking hot?_

“You don’t need to resurrect what isn’t dead, _Titan_.” The words were snarled as Tony took in Loki, dressed in full battle regalia, holding a bloody blade that didn’t look like any kind of blade Tony could ever recall seeing but was clearly strong enough to remove a Titan’s arm. Loki’s hand flew up and Tony watched how magic, vibrant green and gold, wrapped noticeably around Thanos to combine with Mantis and the others still holding on. “I’m a _God_ you dull _monster_.” There was something _more_ to Loki’s words and Tony was sure there was a reason behind them. “You’re _nothing_ but a genocidal monster that needs to die.”

Tony didn’t bother to recall the suit’s helmet as he stared at the God of Mischief who looked like fury incarnate, eyes practically _glowing_ with power and fury, as Thanos’s eyes wheeled around in his head. Mantis continued to sit on top of him, hands pressed to his head, as blood dripped onto the ground and the Titan moaned in muted pain.

“ _Loki_.” The name was rasped with realization and muted disbelief.

Tony was pretty sure that no one else on Titan knew the god but Tony and Thanos. Tony remembered Bruce’s words, that Thanos had sent Loki to Earth and that the Titan was responsible for all of it, as he took in the hatred and fury on Loki’s face. That was an expression that Tony knew he’d worn before as he’d razed the Ten Rings’ encampment in Afghanistan to the ground.

_Oh._

Realization slammed into him and suddenly so many inconsistencies made sense, Loki’s condition upon arriving on Earth made sense, and Tony knew how this was going to end. Loki was radiating power and blind fury.

They had _never_ seen the God of Mischief at his full power and Tony _knew_ if Loki had truly come for Earth he would have had it with little trouble but it _hadn’t_ been his idea and Loki had, somehow, sabotaged it.

 _Green_ eyes snapped to look over at him, taking in the desperation and realization on his face, as Tony swallowed and took a step toward Loki even as the others seemed to take several steps back. Apparently he was the only one lacking self-preservation skills. Only Mantis, Loki and Tony remained anywhere near Thanos.

“Thor?” Loki asked with something like desperation that only barely banked the violence in his gaze and thrumming in his body. Tony knew that look too. He knew the feeling behind it.

_Oh._

He swallowed roughly because the Guardians had mentioned knowing Thor but that was the extent of it. There had been far too much arguing and then they had fanned out to search Titan. “I was barely on Earth after Bruce landed and told us Big Purple was coming. I’m not sure, Lo.” Tony watched how Loki’s eyes seemed to tighten and _loss_ started to fill his eyes. The magic wrapped around Thanos was _writhing_ with his emotions.

“He’s alive!” Mantis blurted out, “He’s alive!”

Loki’s head whipped upwards, his magic never faltering in its hold even while it showed his emotions calming, as he looked at the little alien helping to subdue Thanos. Tony watched Loki give a nod before focusing on Thanos. There was less tension in his body, the grief he’d carried wiped away with two words repeated, as Loki’s magic flashed and Tony could feel the impossible power radiating off the God of Mischief _surge_.

“You might want to move.” Loki’s eyes narrowed in concentration.

Around that time pained, dazed eyes locked on him and Tony stared into Thanos’s eyes. He watched realization fill the Titan’s face, “ _Stark_.” Hearing his name on those lips was chilling. Tony’s heart seized at the implications. There were only _three_ living beings on this rock that should know him and none of them were purple.

“You know me?” Tony thought about the nightmares, about the wormhole and the manic feeling inside of him screaming that he needed to do more, build more, to protect Earth. The voice in his head that drove him forward over and over and over even when he stumbled, slipped or fell in his quest to save them all.

“ _I do_.”

He thought of the _thing_ that had never left him, not since New York, and he shoved it to the side without a thought. This wasn’t about him. This was about saving the universe and trillions of living beings whose lives were threatened by Thanos’s mere existence. “I don’t fucking care.”

That seemed to be all that Loki was waiting on as the blade in his hand seemed to grow, now more wicked and deadly looking, causing Mantis to scramble off Thanos with a yelp as Stephen’s magic brought her to safety. Tony watched in horror as Thanos started to struggle against Loki’s magic, snarling and threatening.

He didn’t hesitate to dart forward, nano tech surging at his command, to lock onto Thanos and hold him in place. Tony gritted his teeth, desperation urging him forward, as Loki swung the blade back. He had come this far and Tony wasn’t risking them losing now. Not when the end was in sight.

“Have fun in Hell, Barney.” Tony bit out as Loki’s blade whistled through the air, cutting through muscle and bone, before silence seemed to swell around them. That silence was shattered by the sound of a dull thud that had him turning to look at the ground.

Tony’s eyes landed on Thanos’s head as he released the body, taking several stumbling steps back, to watch as it fell backwards with an even louder thud. The feeling of relief that surged through him made him feel weightless.

“Holy shit.” He breathed, a hysterical laugh bubbling up. “Holy fucking shit.” Tony looked at Loki who was staring at Thanos’s body with pure satisfaction and pleasure. “You did it. You fucking did it.”

He yanked Loki in for a hug, far too ecstatic to even think, laughing before letting him go and _grinning_ at Loki. The god looked vaguely stunned from Tony’s hug.

Tony noted that the green and gold magic seemed to have retreated back into the god’s body, Loki’s arm hung at his side with the tip of his bloodied blade touching the ground, as the stunned look disappeared. Tony watched as the God of Mischief looked at him with an honest smile on his face. There was relief, satisfaction and peace filling bright green eyes that had a giddy kind of emotion swelling in Tony’s chest.

He almost yanked Loki back into a hug, so relieved and feeling lighter than he had in _years_ , that the temptation was barely kept in check.

“I don’t know _where_ you came from but that was perfect timing, Reindeer Games.” Tony felt beyond _light_ as Peter walked up to him, still holding onto the gauntlet, as his mask retreated back to reveal confused brown eyes. “You okay, kid?”

“Mr. Stark…who is _that_?” Peter looked over at Loki standing only feet away and then back. “Is he another friend?”

Tony blinked and remembered that Shield had done their best to cover up as many details about the invasion’s origins as possible. The average citizen wouldn’t know _Loki._ Peter would have no idea who the god was standing in front of them. Tony was pretty sure he might be the only one on Titan who had an idea of who Loki was but that might be a very good thing.

Loki had saved them all and Tony didn’t feel like fighting the others if they thought it a good idea to attack him.

“That’s Loki.” He glanced at the body, mind going over all of the information he had and looking at all of the gaps, before he made a decision that was surprisingly easy to make. Everyone deserved a second chance and, from what Thor had told him, Loki had fought at his side and had been willing to sacrifice himself for Thor’s life. That wasn't even taking into consideration the Loki from the countless stories Thor had shared with him over the years. All of that, paired with Loki’s desperation to find out about his brother’s survival, was all Tony needed for his next sentence. “He’s a friend from Asgard.”

“Like Thor?”

“Yeah…” Tony’s lips quirked, “They’re brothers, kid. Lo here is Thor’s little brother. He’s the God of Mischief.”

Peter seemed to light up, “That’s so cool! Was that magic? Was that a magic blade? He was so strong how did you manage to hold him by yourself? You must be one of the most powerful magic users in the universe!” the questions kept spilling forward and Tony watched, light and relaxed, as Loki stared at Peter in a kind of shocked horror that made him choke back a laugh. Tony was more than sure he’d done the right thing calling Loki a friend and he was very sure that Peter’s reaction to Loki’s existence would probably do Loki some good.

“I thought mortals needed to breathe?” there was a horrified kind of awe in Loki’s tone. Not a single hint of anger or malice. Yeah…he’d done the right thing.

Tony laughed as Peter absently handed him the gauntlet before he stepped closer to Loki all the while still asking a million questions. He watched Loki’s blade vanish, most of Loki’s armor disappearing in a flash of magic seconds later, as the god stood in a more casual Asgardian outfit with far less metal than the last time Tony had seen him dressed similar. Loki seemed unable to look away from the barrage of questions Peter was still tossing at him, getting more and more excited as he went. Those two seemed fine for the moment. Tony doubted Loki would harm an inquisitive teenager and from Thor’s stories it might do the god good to have that kind of genuine awe directed at him.

He stepped away, took in the eyes watching the scene. Quill’s agony was more than obvious. There was a kind of grief hanging over the Guardians’ heads and Tony felt nothing but compassion for them. Loss never got any easier and theirs was still very fresh. “Hey, Sabrina, think you might be able to use that Stone of yours to fix a few things?”

“ _Tony_ …”

“Come on, Doc. We _won_.” Tony looked over at Quill and back to Stephen Strange. He was compelled to _fix_ and this was well within their abilities. Stephen had the _Time Stone_ and they needed _time_ to fix this. “Please?”

They locked eyes and Tony watched something that looked a bit like resigned fondness fill the other man’s face. It wasn’t an expression he’d ever thought _Strange_ would level him with, not after their introduction or the following arguments, but there it was looking back at him. “After watching you in over fourteen million realities you would think—” Stephen shook it off. “It will delay our return to Earth significantly.”

“I’m willing to accept that.” Tony turned to everyone else, “Does anyone have a problem with saving a few lives?” there were no objections but a lot of hope and realization staring back at them as though they held all the answers.

Tony glanced over at Loki, watched how Peter excitedly chattered at him, as the god answered a few of his questions with surprising patience. Of course Loki was good with kids. They were mischievous and chaotic by nature which was right in his wheelhouse.

“No problems possibly saving a planet?”

Loki’s head jerked up at that. There was naked disbelief that quickly turned to grateful surprise as Tony’s proposition registered and he saw no sign of a lie on Tony’s face.

Thor’s little brother _was_ unfairly attractive _and_ he appeared to be good with teenagers considering Peter. _Don’t go there, Tony. Saving lives and returning to Earth is priority. Ogling attractive gods is going to have to wait._

Stephen shook his head at him and he was, without question, wearing what could be called a surprisingly fond and exasperated expression. It was one Tony had been on the receiving end of several times. “Why not?” his lips quirked, “It’s not as though I didn’t know you were going to ask.”

Good. Otherwise he _might_ have conspired with Loki to get that Stone from him so they could _borrow_ it and right some wrongs. He would have returned it after.

“Great!” his suit retracted back into the nano port leaving him in his newest iteration of his flight suit. “Alright, children! We’re going on a road trip. Chop chop! We have lives to save and a planet to restore. Let’s get the fuck off this rock.”

**Author's Note:**

> We got to see Stephen and Wanda display crazily powerful magical ability but Loki's magic was limited to summoning the Tesseract and conjuring a dagger. One of those three magical users is a 1000+ year old GOD who has practiced magic for the bulk of his life and that's it? I don't fucking think so. They had to dumb Loki down, take away his abilities and power, to kill him in a ridiculously OOC manner.
> 
> Not in this fix-it. I prefer my God of Mischief to be treated right. Loki tricked Thanos, survived and traveled to Titan to pay Thanos back for every thing. This was a very self-indulgent fic and I hope it was a bit cathartic for those of you who read it. I'm sure at least a few of you felt the same way I did.
> 
> So...what did you think about this version of an IW fix-it? I tried something a bit different with it and I'd love to hear what you thought!
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](http://the-winter-writer.tumblr.com)


End file.
